Perry man charged with Social Security fraud, theft

A federal grand jury has indicted a 66-year-old Perry man on charges of Social Security fraud and six counts of theft of government funds accusing him receiving disability payments when he was not eligible.

The grand jury in Kansas City, Kan., indicted Jerome K. Flynn this week alleging the fraud occurred from January 1998 to March 2009 in Jefferson County, according to U.S. Attorney Barry Grissom’s office.

The indictment alleges Flynn received $98,000 in Social Security Title II Disability payments for which he was not eligible because he returned to work at a “substantial level in June 1998” but did not report his work activity and earnings to the Social Security Administration.

Grissom’s office said if Flynn is convicted he faces a maximum penalty of five years in federal prison and a maximum $250,000 fine on the Social Security fraud charge and a maximum 10 years and $250,000 fine on each theft charge.